Condensate Collector and Trap

ABSTRACT

A heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system may include a furnace having a cold header having a plurality of drain ports, and a condensate trap configured to attach to each of the plurality of drain ports, at least one of the drain ports having a plurality of mounting positions for the condensate trap, each mounting position corresponds to an orientation of the furnace in which the furnace can be installed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/152,601 filed on Apr. 24, 2015 byRosario Totaro, and entitled “Condensate Collector and Trap,” thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

Heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) systems ofteninclude a furnace in many commercial and residential applications forheating and otherwise conditioning interior spaces. Operation of agas-fired furnace typically produces condensation that travels from asecondary heat exchanger to a cold header of the furnace and drains intoa condensate trap. Current furnaces may only be installed in a singlevertical or horizontal position, which limits the available applicationsfor a particular furnace.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning(HVAC) furnace is disclosed as comprising: a cold header comprising aplurality of drain ports; and a condensate trap configured to attach toeach of the plurality of drain ports, each drain comprising at least onemounting position for the condensate trap, wherein at least one of thedrain ports comprises a plurality of mounting positions for thecondensate trap.

In other embodiments, a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning(HVAC) system is disclosed as comprising: a furnace, comprising a coldheader comprising a plurality of drain ports; and a condensate trapconfigured to attach to each of the plurality of drain ports, each draincomprising at least one mounting position for the condensate trap,wherein at least one of the drain ports comprises a plurality ofmounting positions for the condensate trap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following briefdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings anddetailed description:

FIG. 1 is an oblique exploded view of a furnace according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an orthogonal side view of the furnace of FIG. 1 according toan embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a front oblique exploded view of a condensate collectionsystem according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a back oblique exploded view of the condensate collectionsystem of FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some instances, it may be desirable to provide a furnace in aheating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system thatincludes a cold header that allows a furnace to be rotated in multipleorientations. For example, where a furnace may be appropriate formultiple different applications requiring different orientations, it maybe desirable to provide a furnace with multiple mounting positions forthe cold header and condensate trap to allow for proper condensatedrainage from the cold header into the condensate trap. Additionally,the condensate trap may be located on one of three drain ports, and twocondensate trap orientations do not require removal of the condensatetrap from the cold header, only a rotation of the condensate trap from apivot point on a drain port of the cold header. Multiple positions forthe cold header and condensate trap increase the applications for whicha particular furnace may be installed, despite the required orientationof the furnace within a particular application. Accordingly, thecondensate trap can be easily removed for inspection and cleaning.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an oblique exploded view and anorthogonal side view of a furnace 100 are shown, respectively. Thefurnace 100 may comprise a partition panel 110, a burner box 122, a gassupply valve 124, a manifold pipe 126, a burner 128 and/or a pluralityof burners 128, at least one first or upstream heat exchanger 130, a hotheader 132, a second or downstream heat exchanger 134, a cold header140, an inducer blower 150, an igniter 154, and a flame sensor 156. Theburner box 122 may be mounted to the partition panel 110 to direct anair-fuel mixture received from the gas supply valve 124 and/or themanifold pipe 126 toward the burner 128. The burner box 122 may promoteeven distribution of the air-fuel mixture across a cross-sectional areaof an air-fuel mixture flow path and/or may promote even distribution ofthe air-fuel mixture across an upstream side of the burner 128.

The burner 128 may be thin and/or compact and may occupy little spacewithin the burner box 122 and/or the furnace 100, especially in theupstream/downstream directions of primary air-fuel mixture flow, therebyproviding a space efficient furnace 100. The mixing of the air and fuelprior to entering the burner box 122 may be aided by the manifold pipe126 and/or the burner 128 to promote homogenous mixing of the air andfuel prior to the combusted air/fuel mixture entering the upstream heatexchanger 130. Alternatively, fuel may be introduced directly into theburner box 122 by the gas supply valve 124. The gas supply valve 124 maybe controlled electrically, pneumatically, or in any other suitablemanner to obtain a beneficial air to fuel ratio for increased efficiencyand lower NO_(x) emissions. The gas supply valve may be configured foreither staged operation or modulation type operation. For example,staged operation may have two flow rate and/or capacity settings, wheremodulation type operation may be incrementally adjustable over a largerange of flow rates, for example from 40% to 100% output capacity of thefurnace 100.

In some embodiments, the burner 128 may extend across substantially anentire cross-sectional area of the air-fuel mixture flow path. Theair-fuel mixture may flow from the burner box 122 through the burner 128and into the upstream heat exchanger 130. The burner 128 may bepermeable, such as to allow the air-fuel mixture to travel through theburner 128 without a substantial pressure drop across the burner 128.For example, the burner 128 may comprise a great number of smallperforations over a substantial portion of the upstream and downstreamsides of the burner 128. Alternatively, a substantial portion of theupstream and downstream sides of the burner 128 may comprise one or morelayers of woven material configured to allow the air-fuel mixture toflow therethrough. Still further, in alternative embodiments, the burner128 may comprise a combination of both perforations and woven material.

The burner 128 may be received within a cavity formed by the coupling ofthe burner box 122 and the upstream heat exchanger 130. When the burner128 is received within the above-described cavity, the upstream side ofthe burner 128 may face the burner box 122, and an opposing downstreamside of the burner 128 may face the upstream heat exchanger 130. Theupstream heat exchanger 130 may be further configured to output thecombusted air-fuel mixture into multiple parallel flow paths, as will bediscussed further herein.

The one or more upstream heat exchangers 130 may be configured toreceive an at least partially combusted air-fuel mixture downstream ofthe burner 128 and each upstream heat exchanger 130 may form a separateflow path downstream relative to the burner 128. While the upstream heatexchangers 130 are disclosed as comprising a plurality of tubes, inalternative embodiments, the upstream heat exchangers 130 may compriseclamshell heat exchangers, drum heat exchangers, shell and tube typeheat exchangers, and/or any other suitable type of heat exchanger. Thedownstream heat exchanger 134 may be configured to receive the at leastpartially combusted air-fuel mixture from the upstream heat exchanger130 through the hot header 132. The downstream heat exchanger 134 maycomprise a fin-tube type heat exchanger and/or plate-fin type heatexchanger, either of which may comprise one or more tubes. In otherembodiments, the downstream heat exchanger 134 may comprise a so-calledclamshell heat exchanger. It will further be appreciated that combustionof fuel within the furnace 100 may result in the formation ofcondensation on the downstream heat exchanger 134. Accordingly, as willbe discussed in greater detail herein, condensate from the downstreamheat exchanger 134 may travel to the cold header 140 and drain into acondensate trap 142.

In some embodiments, the at least partially combusted air-fuel mixturemay be transferred from the one or more upstream heat exchangers 130 todownstream heat exchanger 134 through the hot header 132. While furnace100 is described above as comprising one burner 128, alternative furnaceembodiments may comprise more than one burner 128. In some cases,additional burners 128 may be utilized to increase an overall heatingcapacity. In some embodiments, several burners 128 may be aligned inparallel, so that multiple parallel air-fuel mixture flow paths may beformed through the upstream heat exchanger 130. Further, while furnace100 is disclosed as comprising at least one upstream heat exchanger 130and a downstream heat exchanger 134, alternative furnace embodiments maycomprise only one upstream heat exchanger 130, no downstream heatexchanger 134, and/or multiple downstream heat exchangers 134.

An igniter 154 may be mounted partially within the burner box 122proximal to the downstream side of the burner 128 to ignite the air-fuelmixture a short distance downstream from the downstream side of theburner 128. In some embodiments, the igniter 154 may comprise a pilotlight, a spark igniter, a piezoelectric device, and/or a hot surfaceigniter and may be controlled by a control system and/or may be manuallyignited. Additionally, the flame sensor 156 may comprise a thermocouple,a flame rectification device, and/or any other suitable safety deviceand be configured to detect the presence of a flame within the furnace100. In this embodiment, igniter 154 and flame sensor 156 are disposedwithin the burner box 122. The air-fuel mixture may be moved in aninduced draft manner by pulling the air-fuel mixture through the furnace100 and/or in a forced draft manner by pushing the air-fuel mixturethrough the furnace 100. The induced draft may be produced by attachinga blower and/or fan downstream, such as inducer blower 150 relative tothe cold header 140 and pulling the air-fuel mixture out of the systemby creating a lower pressure at the exhaust of the cold header 140 ascompared to the pressure upstream of the burner 128. Inducing flow inthe above-described manner may protect against leaking the at leastpartially combusted air-fuel mixture and related products of combustionto the surrounding environment by ensuring the at least partiallycombusted air-fuel mixture is maintained at a pressure lower than theair pressure surrounding the furnace 100. With such an induced flow, anyleak along the flow path of the air-fuel mixture may result in pullingenvironmental air into the flow path rather than expelling the at leastpartially combusted air-fuel mixture and related products of combustionto the environment.

In alternative embodiments, the air-fuel mixture may be forced along theair-fuel mixture flow path by placing a blower or fan upstream relativeto the burner 128 and creating higher pressure upstream of the burner128 relative to a lower pressure at the exhaust of the cold header 140.In some embodiments, a control system may control the inducer blower 150to an appropriate speed to achieve desired fluid flow rates for adesired firing rate through the burner 128. Increasing the speed of theinducer blower 150 may introduce more air to the air-fuel mixture,thereby changing the characteristics of the combustion achieved by theburner 128. In some embodiments, a so-called zero governor regulatorand/or zero governor gas valve, such as gas supply valve 124, may beadditionally utilized to provide a desired fuel to air ratio in spite ofthe varying effects of an induced draft and/or other pressure variationsthat may fluctuate and/or otherwise tend to cause dispensing or more orless fuel in response to the pressure variations and/or negativepressures relative to atmospheric pressure.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a front oblique exploded view and a backoblique exploded view of a condensate collection system 200 are shownaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. The condensate collectionsystem 200 may generally comprise a cold header 140 and a condensatetrap 142. The cold header 140 may generally be formed from a plasticmaterial and form an inner cavity 207 between an inner surface of thecold header 140 and the partition panel 110. The cold header 140comprises a plurality of mounting holes 202 for securing the cold header140 to the partition panel 110 of the furnace 100. In some embodiments,the mounting holes 202 may comprise mounting tabs and/or a combinationof mounting holes and/or mounting tabs. When the cold header 140 issecured to the partition panel 110, the inducer blower 150 may bemounted to the cold header 140 by securing it to the opening 204 in thecold header 140. Additionally, the cold header 140 may also comprise aplurality of mounting positions to allow the inducer blower 150 to berotated with respect to the cold header 140 and/or the furnace 100 in atleast four different orientations. In some embodiments, each orientationand/or mounting orientation of the blower 150 to the cold header 140 maycoincide with a different installation orientation of the furnace 100.The opening 204 may provide a fluid flowpath through the furnace 100 foran airflow generated by the inducer blower 150. Additionally, a seal 206may provide for a fluid tight boundary between the cold header 140 andthe partition panel 110 and between the opening 204 of the cold header140 and the inducer blower 150. In some embodiments, the seal 206 maycomprise sealant that is injected into the mold of the cold header 140during manufacturing. However, in other embodiments, the sealant 206 maycomprise a gasket and/or any other apparatus that is configured to forma fluid tight boundary between the cold header 140 and the partitionpanel 110 and between the opening 204 of the cold header 140 and theinducer blower 150.

The cold header 140 also comprises at least one pressure port 208. Thepressure port 208 may comprise and/or be connected to a pressure sensorthat is configured to monitor the system pressure within the cold header140 and/or the furnace 100. The cold header 140 may also comprise aplurality of drain ports 210. The drain ports 210 may generally comprisea cylindrically-shaped body that extends from an outer surface of thecold header 140. The drain ports 210 may also comprise a drain hole 211that extends from the inner cavity 207 through the drain port 210 toallow condensation that collects in the cold header 140 to escape fromthe inner cavity 207 through the drain ports 210. In some embodiments,the cold header 140 may comprise three drain ports 210, one at eachlower corner of the cold header 140 and an additional drain port 210 atan upper left corner of the cold header 140. However, in someembodiments, the cold header 140 may comprise three drain ports 210, oneat each lower corner of the cold header 140 and an additional drain port210 at an upper right corner of the cold header 140. In yet otherembodiments, the cold header 140 may comprise four drain ports 210, oneat each corner of the cold header 140. Still further, it will beappreciated that in some embodiments, the cold header 140 may comprisedrain ports 210 at each of the upper corners of the cold header 140 andan additional drain port 210 at either of the lower corners of the coldheader 140.

The condensate trap 142 comprises a body 214 and a complimentary-shapedcover 224. The body 214 and the cover 224 may generally be formed from aplastic material and be joined together to form a single component. Insome embodiments, the body 214 and the cover 224 may be ultrasonicallywelded together. In other embodiments, the body 214 and the cover 224may be molded as a single component and/or joined together in any otherappropriate way so that the condensate trap 142 forms a fluid tightassembly between the body 214 and the cover 224. The body 214 of thecondensate trap 142 comprises at least one mounting hole 216 forsecuring the condensate trap 142 to the cold header 140, internalbaffles 218 that prevent the need for priming the condensate trap 142during the heating off-season, an inlet port 220 configured to receivecondensate from the cold header 140, and a plurality of outlet ports222, while the cover 224 of the condensate trap 142 also comprises anoutlet port 226.

The condensate trap 142 may be configured to attach to any one of theplurality of drain ports 210 of the cold header 140 to allow condensateto drain from the internal cavity 207 through a drain hole 211 of thedrain port 210 and into the condensate trap 142 through the inlet port220 of the condensate trap 142. After condensate passes through theinlet port 220 and into the condensate trap 142, the condensate may flowthrough the plurality of internal baffles 218, which may prevent theneed for priming the condensate trap 142 during the heating off-season.In some embodiments, the internal baffles 218 may also preventcondensate from backing up into the internal cavity 207 of the coldheader 140. More specifically, in some embodiments, the baffles 218 mayprevent condensate from backing up into the internal cavity 207 of thecold header 140 by creating a pressure drop through the condensate trap142. The pressure drop created by the baffles 218, when coupled with agravitational pressure caused by condensate within the condensate trap142, drives the condensate from the condensate trap 142, therebypreventing from the condensate trap 142 from becoming completely full ofcondensate. Thereafter, condensate may pass through one of a pluralityof outlet ports 220 in the body 214 and/or an outlet port 226 in thecover 224 of the condensate trap 142. In some embodiments, the outletports 222 may be connected to a hose and/or other tubular device forcarrying away condensate from the condensate trap 142.

Still referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the cold header 140 is designed toallow the furnace 100 to rotate, operate, and/or be installed in fourorientations without removing the cold header 140 from the partitionpanel 110 and/or the downstream heat exchanger 134 while still providingproper drainage of the condensate from the furnace 100. Accordingly, thecondensate trap 142 may generally be configured to attach to any one ofthe plurality of drain ports 210 of the cold header 140. The condensatetrap 142 may be attached so that the inlet port 220 of the condensatetrap 142 is axially aligned with one of the drain ports 210 of the coldheader 140 to allow condensation within the internal cavity 207 of thecold header 140 to flow through a drain hole 211 of a respective drainport 210 and enter the condensate trap 142 through the inlet port 220 ofthe body 214 of the condensate trap 142. A gasket 212 may be placedbetween the inlet port 220 and the respective drain port 210 to form afluid tight boundary between the inlet port 220 and the drain port 210.In some embodiments, the gasket 212 may comprise a circular seal, suchas an O-ring gasket. Additionally, it will be appreciate that when thecondensate trap 142 is attached to one of the drain ports 210, the otherdrain ports 210 may comprise a plug, bung, and/or any other appropriateseal inserted at least partially into the drain holes 211 of therespective drain ports 210 to prevent condensate within the internalcavity 207 of the cold header 140 from escaping the cold header 140through the unused drain holes 211 of the drain ports 210.

The at least one mounting hole 216 is generally configured for securingthe body 214 and/or the condensate trap 142 to the cold header 140. Themounting hole 216 may generally comprise a clearance hole and beconfigured to receive a screw and/or any other appropriate fastenertherethrough, and the screw may generally thread into a complimentarythreaded hole 213 of the cold header 140 to secure the body 214 and/orthe condensate trap 142 to the cold header 140. As stated, the coldheader 140 is designed to allow the furnace 100 to rotate in fourorientations without removing the cold header from the partition panel110 and/or the downstream heat exchanger 134 while still providing thefurnace 100 with appropriate drainage of condensate from within the coldheader 140 and the condensate trap 142. Accordingly, one of the drainports 210 comprise two threaded holes 213 that allow the condensate trap142 to rotate about the drain port 210 and be attached in multiplepositions. More specifically, the lower left drain port 210 may comprisea first threaded hole 213′ for attaching the condensate trap 142 to thecold header 140 in a first position and a second threaded hold 213″ forattaching the condensate trap 142 to the cold header 140 in a secondposition while using the same drain port 210.

By providing two positions for a single drain port 210, the furnace maybe oriented in two different orientations without having to remove thecondensate trap 142 from the cold header 140. Accordingly, thecondensate trap 142 may be installed in four positions on three drainports 210 for a single cold header 140, allowing the furnace 100 to beinstalled in multiple orientations without requiring removal of the coldheader 140 from the furnace 100. Further, it will be appreciated thatwhile the condensate trap 142 does not require removal to be installedin the two positions for a drain port 210 having multiple mountingpositions, the other two positions require removal of the condensatetrap 142 from the cold header 140, but do not require removal of thecold header 140 from the furnace 100. Thus, based on the installationorientation of the furnace 100 required for a particular application,the condensate trap 142 may be rotated and/or relocated to a properdrain port 210 that allows the furnace to properly drain the condensatethat collects in the internal cavity 207 of the cold header 140.Additionally, the hose that connects to the outlet port 222 may beremoved and/or relocated to the opposing outlet port 222 to ensureproper condensate drainage from the condensate trap 142. It will also beappreciated that by providing the cold header 140 with multiple mountingpositions for the condensate trap 142, the condensate collection system200 may allow proper drainage of condensate from the cold header 140 andsubsequently the condensate trap 142 when the furnace 100 is installedin various orientations and/or configurations.

At least one embodiment is disclosed and variations, combinations,and/or modifications of the embodiment(s) and/or features of theembodiment(s) made by a person having ordinary skill in the art arewithin the scope of the disclosure. Alternative embodiments that resultfrom combining, integrating, and/or omitting features of theembodiment(s) are also within the scope of the disclosure. Wherenumerical ranges or limitations are expressly stated, such expressranges or limitations should be understood to include iterative rangesor limitations of like magnitude falling within the expressly statedranges or limitations (e.g., from about 1 to about 10 includes, 2, 3, 4,etc.; greater than 0.10 includes 0.11, 0.12, 0.13, etc.). For example,whenever a numerical range with a lower limit, R_(l), and an upperlimit, R_(u), is disclosed, any number falling within the range isspecifically disclosed. In particular, the following numbers within therange are specifically disclosed: R=R_(l)+k*(R_(u)−R_(l)), wherein k isa variable ranging from 1 percent to 100 percent with a 1 percentincrement, i.e., k is 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, 5percent, . . . , 50 percent, 51 percent, 52 percent, . . . , 95 percent,96 percent, 97 percent, 98 percent, 99 percent, or 100 percent. Unlessotherwise stated, the term “about” shall mean plus or minus 10 percentof the subsequent value. Moreover, any numerical range defined by two Rnumbers as defined in the above is also specifically disclosed. Use ofthe term “optionally” with respect to any element of a claim means thatthe element is required, or alternatively, the element is not required,both alternatives being within the scope of the claim. Use of broaderterms such as comprises, includes, and having should be understood toprovide support for narrower terms such as consisting of, consistingessentially of, and comprised substantially of. Accordingly, the scopeof protection is not limited by the description set out above but isdefined by the claims that follow, that scope including all equivalentsof the subject matter of the claims. Each and every claim isincorporated as further disclosure into the specification and the claimsare embodiment(s) of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning(HVAC) furnace, comprising: a cold header comprising a plurality ofdrain ports; and a condensate trap configured to attach to each of theplurality of drain ports, each drain comprising at least one mountingposition for the condensate trap, wherein at least one of the drainports comprises a plurality of mounting positions for the condensatetrap.
 2. The HVAC furnace of claim 1, wherein the cold header comprisesat least three drain ports.
 3. The HVAC furnace of claim 1, wherein thecondensate trap is configured to receive condensate from the drain portof the cold header to which the condensate trap is attached.
 4. The HVACfurnace of claim 1, wherein the condensate trap comprises opposingoutlet ports on either side of the condensate trap.
 5. The HVAC furnaceof claim 1, wherein the at least one of the drain ports comprising theplurality of mounting positions for the condensate trap comprises afirst position and a second position, wherein the second position is atangular displacement to the first position and rotated about the drainport that the condensate trap is attached to.
 6. The HVAC furnace ofclaim 1, wherein the cold header is configured to attach to a partitionpanel of the furnace.
 7. The HVAC furnace of claim 5, wherein eachmounting position corresponds to an orientation in which the furnace canbe installed.
 8. The HVAC furnace of claim 7, wherein the cold headerand the condensate trap are configured to allow the furnace to beinstalled in at least four different orientations.
 9. The HVAC furnaceof claim 8, wherein removal of the cold header is not required torelocate the condensate trap to a different mounting position.
 10. TheHVAC furnace of claim 1, wherein the condensate trap comprises aplurality of internal baffles disposed within the condensate configuredto at least one of (1) prevent a need to prime the condensate trap and(2) prevent condensate from backing up into the cold header.
 11. TheHVAC furnace of claim 1, further comprising: an inducer blower mounteddirectly to the cold header, wherein the cold header comprises aplurality of mounting positions for the inducer blower, each mountingposition associated with an orientation of the furnace.
 12. A heating,ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising: afurnace, comprising: a cold header comprising a plurality of drainports; and a condensate trap configured to attach to each of theplurality of drain ports, each drain comprising at least one mountingposition for the condensate trap, wherein at least one of the drainports comprises a plurality of mounting positions for the condensatetrap.
 13. The HVAC system of claim 12, wherein the cold header comprisesat least three drain ports.
 14. The HVAC system of claim 12, wherein thecondensate trap is configured to receive condensate from the drain portof the cold header to which the condensate trap is attached.
 15. TheHVAC system of claim 12, wherein the condensate trap comprises opposingoutlet ports on either side of the condensate trap.
 16. The HVAC systemof claim 12, wherein the at least one of the drain ports comprising theplurality of mounting positions for the condensate trap comprises afirst position and a second position, wherein the second position is atangular displacement to the first position and rotated about the drainport that the condensate trap is attached to.
 17. The HVAC system ofclaim 12, wherein the cold header is configured to attach to a partitionpanel of the furnace.
 18. The HVAC system of claim 16, wherein eachmounting position corresponds to an orientation in which the furnace canbe installed.
 19. The HVAC system of claim 18, wherein the cold headerand the condensate trap are configured to allow the furnace to beinstalled in at least four different orientations.
 20. The HVAC systemof claim 19, wherein removal of the cold header is not required torelocate the condensate trap to a different mounting position.
 21. TheHVAC system of claim 12, wherein the condensate trap comprises aplurality of internal baffles disposed within the condensate configuredto at least one of (1) prevent a need to prime the condensate trap and(2) prevent condensate from backing up into the cold header.
 22. TheHVAC system of claim 12, further comprising: an inducer blower mounteddirectly to the cold header, wherein the cold header comprises aplurality of mounting positions for the inducer blower, each mountingposition associated with an orientation of the furnace.